The Turkish government reported a record number of refugees fleeing Syrian military offensives across the border, just days before a Syrian government pledged to withdraw military forces from population centers.
In 24 hours at least 2,741 Syrians fled down smugglers' paths to the barbed wire border fence, where they were met by Turkish border guards, the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate said. More than 23,000 Syrian refugees now reside in Turkey.
The surge prompted Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu to make a 2 a.m. phone call to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, inviting U.N. officials to witness the growing refugee crisis firsthand.